If you bloom, butterflies will come.
The encouragement from this stranger stood in stark contrast to the barrage of texts from his boss. Years of hidden bitterness finally erupted, and a thought formed in Qu Changlin's mind: "It's time for a change."
The moment that thought appeared, it spread through his brain uncontrollably. He clenched his fists hard, but after a while, he gradually calmed down again.
Life wasn't a feel-good story. The prerequisite for chasing your dreams was surviving first.
Qu Changlin was a marginal employee at Nightmare Academy, assigned to the most pungent, least desirable area—the bathroom. He couldn't handle interpersonal relationships and had no confidence in himself.
Thinking about this, he sighed softly. "I want to change too, but change takes courage and ability. I don't have either..."
"You're just too lacking in confidence. From where I stand, you have countless good qualities—you just haven't met someone who can appreciate them yet. The scene you're responsible for is terrifying, the mannequins are absolutely horrifying, and you can put up with the stench to run everything from inside that bathroom setup. In my eyes, you have every quality a haunted house employee should have." Chen Ge slowed his pace slightly. "I've heard there's a haunted house in the western suburbs of Jiujiang that's developed really well—number one in positive reviews online. If you truly want to change, you could give it a shot. Since you've decided to change, you might as well go for the best. No matter how it turns out, at least you'll know you gave it your all."
Qu Changlin committed Chen Ge's words to memory and nodded slowly. A sliver of doubt had crossed his mind, but he quickly let it go.
After all, this was the first time he'd encountered a visitor who could turn touring a haunted house into something genuinely motivational and inspirational. It was only natural he wasn't used to it.
Following Qu Changlin's directions, Chen Ge carried him to the door of the Dean's office. "The Dean's office. Now what?"
"Just put me down here." Qu Changlin clutched his phone, staring at the string of texts from his boss. He felt a pang of guilt toward Chen Ge.
The guy had gone out of his way to encourage him, to help him think about his life—all while Qu Changlin had harbored malicious intentions to scare him. It was too much.
"Be careful, okay? Oh, and let's exchange numbers. If you ever run into trouble, give me a call." Chen Ge was genuinely warm-hearted. Hearing that only made Qu Changlin feel worse.
"Sure." Right there outside the Dean's office, under the security camera, the two exchanged phone numbers.
"I've already cleared the storyline here. I'm going to explore the other areas now. Catch you later." Chen Ge grinned, pulled the diary from his backpack, and headed toward the next scene.
Watching Chen Ge walk away, Qu Changlin didn't know what to say. He felt that the man carried some kind of special power—a power that gave people hope and made them want to stay gentle and warm.
The phone in his palm kept vibrating. Qu Changlin glanced down. It was his boss calling.
The man must have seen Chen Ge leave on the surveillance feed before he dared to call directly.
Qu Changlin hit answer but hadn't said a word before his boss's roar filled his ear.
"What the hell are you doing?! I told you over and over—you have to scare him! Don't screw up! And what did you do? Look at what you've done!"
Qu Changlin held the phone, his back pressed against the door, not making a sound.
"Speak! What about the promises you made me? Didn't you say you'd make him walk in on his own feet and crawl out? Well?" The boss was practically spitting with rage. He'd been pushed over the edge. His haunted house's top actor had gone to visit the competitor's place, and all three of them got scared into fainting. Now the competitor comes to his place, and four of his own actors get completely terrified into submission? Who the hell could swallow that?